Introduce Yourself to The Community

Let us know a little about yourself and your lawn care and landscaping business. Let us know who you are, where you are from, and what equipment you started with and how far you have come along in the business.

Thread: what dreams may come...

As a kid I always loved being outside on our old farm and riding the tractor all over the place with my dad whatever he was doing. I was either on his lap or the fender. Then we moved and quit farming, but our new house had about 4 acres of grass to mow. Dad bought a John Deere LX188 so I could learn how to help him mow. I was 7 when I started mowing. I really enjoyed driving that little tractor. In '97 dad bought a John Deere 345 garden tractor so we could both ride on Green machines. in spring 2000 I got the opportunity to mow a lawn for some church members and had a neighbor whose murray's drive wheels fell off and I mow her lawn now. the next year I obtained another neighbor's lawn. With the money I had earned I bought my 6.5'X12' tandem trailer and obtained 4 more accounts the next spring to put it to use. My parents began to see with all the rough lawns I was mowing that I needed a heavy duty mower and the 345 would tack over 1000 hrs soon and was taking a beating. On may first of '02 i got off the school bus and took a look in the garage and there was my late b-day present with a big red bow on it. A 2002 John Deere X485 tractor. It has been awesome ever since, and this year I've added 10 more accounts to the other 7 and have broadened the services offered. I registered my business name as The Mean Green Cut last winter and have been insured for a couple of years now. I hope to pay for part of my college education this year and for the rest of it in the years to come. I want to become an elementary teacher and keep The Mean Green Cut running on the side when out of school.

Haha, wow, what a testament to things changing. I'm a Junior at Purdue University majoring in landscape horticulture and design now. Thankfully not for elementary education! I have been blessed with a growing business every year and enough green to pay for my college education without taking out student loans since I've typed the above post. It's been tough running a business through college, and it has required sacrifice...like driving 5 hrs. every weekend to go home and work on my business during the growing season. However, I'm very proud of my dedication, and I look forward to graduating and expanding my business on a career level at that time.

I'm not here to boast my equipment acquisitions anymore, but I have had fun in the past several years building my lineup, and I look forward to continuing that.

I have also been blessed to be in the situation where I can be selective about the clients I take, thus yielding a higher quality, more loyal client base. My goal of becoming a full-service company is nearing fulfillment, and a new focus on landscape design and installation due to my newfound knowledge of design/construction concepts I've learned at Purdue. I'm looking forward to an exciting future in this field, and I hope that I can report back in another 4 years to reflect on further successes and more exciting avenues. Thanks again.